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Peonies make superb cut flowers, especially single and Japanese forms.
Some varieties are fragrant. Others have no fragrance at all, and a few tend to have an unpleasant bitter scent. 'Festiva Maxima' produces large, white double blooms, which are characteristic of rose-scented varieties, and 'Louise Marx' bears white Japanese form fLowers that smell a bit like honey.
When making your vase arrangement, harvest the flowers as early in the morning as possible. Using a sharp knife, cut the stems so they are 18 inches long. Be sure to leave at least two leaves on each remaining stem and never remove more than one half of the flowers from a single plant. This allows the plants to continue to photosynthesize.
If you want to use the flowers in an arrangement immediately, select blooms that are almost fully open. If you want a bouquet that lasts longer, select flowers in various stages of opening. And although most people make liberal use of the prolific blossoms in flower arrangements, they forget about the wonderful texture of the leathery leaves. Using leaves and flowers creates a beautiful, natural arrangement.
Saving Cut Peonies for a Special Occasion By Jean Starr
A vase bursting with peony blossoms is a breathtaking sight, all the more enjoyable because when cut, they last up to two weeks. Is there a wedding, graduation, or other event that you’d like to celebrate with the beauty of peonies but is scheduled after they are likely to finish blooming? When cut in bud stage, peonies can be put in a holding pattern for two to three weeks.
According to peony breeder Don Hollingsworth, double forms should be cut in the soft bud stage, which he describes as feeling like a fresh marshmallow. Cut bomb forms when the sepals surrounding the bud are loosening and an edge of the true color is showing, and cut single and Japanese forms at a stage just slightly firmer than the bombs. It’s helpful to experiment, says Hollingsworth. If you need to hold the buds for a longer period, cut them when they’re harder. Then store them in the refrigerator, either in a vase or wrapped in an airtight plastic bag and laid flat on a shelf.
When you’re ready to arrange your peonies, take them out of the refrigerator and recut the stems by an inch or two. Frank Dickson of Peonies Plus in Elma, Washington, a wholesale peony grower, recommends placing them in a vase with a solution of equal parts of clear soda pop and tap water. Add one teaspoon of bleach per quart of solution.
Your peonies should open within 48 hours at normal room temperature. The warmer the room, the faster they’ll open.
